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Picked it up on your recommendation. This better be awesome!
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Jul 16, 2012 04:03
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I have a question for any combat/technical goons that might know the answer to this, not sure if it's the right thread. I have an idea for a short story where an airport security guard disarms a guy with a grenade. The perpetrator pulls the pin and then the guard would get the thing out of his hand and keep the handle squeezed; how do you go about deactivating a grenade from that point? Would a specialist need to be called? Is there a killswitch or something the holder can flip to disarm it?
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Aug 1, 2012 17:02
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I want to write a short centering around this guy's emotions as he holds this grenade at bay. Maybe he becomes convinced that he's going to die, maybe he's too afraid to throw it because he's convinced it will blow up the second he lets go, probably an accomplice of the terrorist tries to shoot him. Am I to understand this is impossible because disarming a grenade is really easy or have I got room to fudge it?
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Aug 1, 2012 23:43
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Great! I'll start tonight.  Thanks for the help.
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Aug 2, 2012 00:30
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Hey look! I said I was gonna go draft up a short story tonight and I totally didn't put it off. I'm learnding. GRENAAAAADE
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Aug 2, 2012 12:15
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Oh, god drat it!
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Aug 3, 2012 03:43
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What do you mean? I've said I'll take the short story from my other thread away for a week, put some real work into it and try again then. I've PMed almost everyone in that thread to thank them for their time giving me critique, and I had several in-depth posts discussing specific directions for taking it. How am I being disrespectful? I'm honestly asking, there's no need for hostility.
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Aug 3, 2012 04:13
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I'm really pretty taken aback here, it seems like there's been some sort of latent undercurrent of irritation with my posts and now I'm being accused of things I didn't even do, or at least wasn't aware I was doing. How did I give the impression that I'm not willing to listen or improve?
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Aug 3, 2012 04:28
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Black Griffon posted:I want to set up a blog for my writing, to share with family and Facebook friends and so on. Is there a blog service that's especially good for this, and how should I treat any material that I want to send to a publisher? I use blogger/blogspot, and Wordpress offers some good solutions as well.
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Sep 5, 2012 23:22
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Over the last couple of months I've read The War of Art, The 10% Solution and How Not to Write a Novel. What are some other good reads in this vein? Preferably available on Kindle or Nook, but not essential.
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Nov 17, 2012 08:38
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I'm writing a short story in first person present tense. I'm that guy.
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Dec 4, 2012 03:44
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Thank you! The hardest part of writing always seems to be getting over your inner critic. I just set out to write something, to flex my muscles, but I can't silence the thoughts that keep telling me it's all garbage.  Tartarus Sauce posted:This is a helpful conversation for me, because I often feel like I'm obligated to narrate every bloody thing that happens between Point A and Point B, especially when I begin to get tired or distracted. (When I'm energized and focused, my judgment on what to include and how to include it is much better, and transitions are much more fluid.) I do this as well. If a character has to drive across town for some reason I feel like if I don't narrate him flipping off somebody driving under the speed limit or detail him finding a parking space, I'm not describing enough.
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Dec 4, 2012 03:52
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It's a joke. First person present tense has been highly contentious in all of the writers' groups and forums I've been to. My friend also received a rejection letter that lambasted his use of it. It is rather common in bad fanfiction. This is not to say it can't and hasn't been used very well. I'm kidding.
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Dec 6, 2012 03:44
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Erik Shawn-Bohner posted:Glad to see the dickatar is still entirely relevant. You're the guy who made a four-inch post making fun of the dude who doesn't like to read fiction, right? You know, just, I'd hate to hurt anyone's feelings. quote:We can also talk about min/maximalism in prose. It's sometimes fun to write dense, maybe overwrought pieces, and I sometimes like to read them. But what sets apart the piece that someone shits out to look like a smarty pants vs an actually enjoyable piece of maximalist writing? Discuss. I tend to think less is more, though at times I have trouble following my own advice. On the other hand, I love a good meaty bit of dialogue. I guess it kind of depends what you're communicating. Description doesn't need to be overwrought, and inner monologue can easily cross that threshold into being wanky, but if you're, for example, writing a first-person piece, then stopping a scene to have some wordy reflection can reveal a lot about the character. I read something a friend-of-a-friend was working on and it took like fifteen pages before anything meaningful happened. Half a page was dedicated to describing a jacket. I guess it comes down to, is this important to the reader, or just to me? FauxCyclops fucked around with this message at 06:57 on Dec 6, 2012 |
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Dec 6, 2012 06:47
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Okay, I'll make sure that I don't make any sideways jabs about commonly lampooned literary devices in the SA fiction thread again. Congrats on your big dick, btw.
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Dec 6, 2012 07:05
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Happy to. I think these ones are pretty universal. 1. Adverbs are basically the devil for some reason 2. Keeping yourself motivated 3. Silencing the inner critic 4. How to tell good critique from bad.
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Dec 6, 2012 07:18
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Stuporstar posted:This goes for pretty much everything mentioned in the 10% solution. The goal isn't to cut every adverb, or words like "was," "of," or "that," but to cut down on their abuse. If you get in the habit of cutting those words, you'll get a better feel for when they're useful and necessary. It's true, I read The 10% Solution at Stupor's advice and it helped a lot.
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Dec 6, 2012 07:48
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To that end; the Novel & Short Story Writer's Market 2013 came out last month and it, true to its name, catalogues literary agents and magazines that are taking submissions, as well as listing their preferred genres and whether they are receptive to unsolicited queries and previously-unpublished clients. There's also some helpful articles towards the front about whatever (self publishing, writing a good villain, that sort of thing). I picked last year's copy up at Barnes & Noble, so they do stock them in actual bookstores.
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Dec 6, 2012 08:01
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I laughed really hard. It's true though. A well-lived and well-examined life of real experiences is the cornerstone of any artistic education.
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Dec 17, 2012 08:41
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supermikhail posted:So, can anyone tell me how a guy (me) tries for years and years to write and novel and never manages? I've tried outlining and never can make the outline consistent and tight enough, and I've tried not outlining and always quit at a few thousand words because I just can't see anyone entertained by that. I've just introduced myself to Neil Gaiman and I'm feeling pretty bummed because I'm not getting any younger. Neil himself has a few words about this. With regards to outlining, it's good to have a knowledgeable friend you can bounce ideas off of. I may be lucky in that my best friend and roommate basically serves as my de facto editor, but we have a board with index cards on the wall in my room and we'll stand around smoking and drinking, rearranging and pitching ideas, sticking stuff to the wall and taking it off. Don't feel so rigid about the drafting process, just have fun with it.
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Dec 26, 2012 21:13
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Oxxidation posted:This is not the norm. Even Stephen King, who is a cheerful and shameless proponent of writing by the seat of your pants, had a huge stall in the middle of The Stand where he was completely at a loss as to what the gently caress to do next. I have no problem taking a break for a few days to let the idea percolate. It'll be the most inopportune, random time, but something will come to you that you really love and wonder how you didn't think of it before. Don't even devote a large amount of time to mulling on it, just let your subconscious go to work and then check in every now and then.
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Dec 28, 2012 04:58
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CB_Tube_Knight posted:Like in one of the stories a character had a glass of wine and then drove somewhere and this person freaked out about drunk driving being a trigger when I didn't even consider that someone would be drink after a glass (Drinking Level: Catholic). Ignore, ignore, ignore. The dubious legitimacy of "trigger warnings" aside (and you've given an especially frivolous example), you're writing fiction.
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Jan 15, 2013 20:59
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Some posts earlier in the thread led me to finally watch the movie Adaptation and then I was pointed towards the Robert McKee story seminars. Weighing the possibility of attending it myself sometime aside, I'm looking at getting his book because it seems to be pretty universal stuff that can be applied to fiction as well, and I can 'eat around' the stuff specifically pertaining to the visual aspect. Anyone else read it? e: I'm dumb, first review quote: quote:“ I recommend this book for anyone that wants to write compelling stories, whether you want to be screenwriter, playwright or novelist. ” So consider this post a recommendation instead! FauxCyclops fucked around with this message at 12:43 on Jan 23, 2013 |
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Jan 23, 2013 12:40
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HiddenGecko posted:If you watched Adaptation and you got the urge to adopt McKee's lessons on writing then we were watching two very very different movies. Considering that the movie in of itself is a commentary on the kind of movies produced through McKee's methods and it was definitely not a flattering depiction. (By god, McKee even becomes a Deus Ex Machina old man halfway through the movie as he's berating the main character not to include one in the script of the movie you're watching!) That certainly is a different way to look at it. I felt like McKee's lambasting of Nic Cage's character was pretty on the money, even if the last half hour of the film takes his advice to an absurd degree. I feel like if McKee is as big of a name in the screenwriting world as it seems, it'd probably be prudent to at least read his book-- even if I eventually decide it's all crap and do the exact opposite out of spite, you gotta know the rules to break them. Thanks for reminding me I need to pick up On Writing, though, my roommate swears by it.
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Jan 23, 2013 23:19
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Congratulations on finishing your draft! Now comes the really hard part. I'm not sure what genre you're writing but you probably could stand to cut your word count down by a lot.
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Jan 29, 2013 01:16
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That's a very realistic way to look at it. I suggest starting a new story today-- short, book, whatever-- and come back to look at your fantasy novel again in a few months. If it's the first long project you've finished it's an especially good idea to let it settle for a while. I bet you can cut that 130k down to 100k.
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Jan 29, 2013 02:00
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